When I was looking for Master programs I was interested mainly in Sweden and the Netherlands and I decided to go to KI in the end. The exchange program between Leiden and KI is long established and I took the chance to finally get to know my second choice a bit closer.

I needed to find courses worth of 9cp to replace the elective track of the 3rd biomedicine term and a 10 week lab project. To choose the courses I had a look at https://studiegids.leidenuniv.nl/studies/show/2149/biomedical_sciences_research. I had to decide about my courses before the course dates for my term were online, but I got a schedule from the Dutch exchange coordinator with the preliminary dates of the courses. The course descriptions were very similar to the ones of the previous year, which were still online. After choosing my courses I e-mailed my course coordinator at KI for the 3rd term and after his ok I applied with those courses at Leiden University.

To find a lab for the 10 week project I contacted some professors and found a lab rather quick. I presented the project in January at KI and the written report was also graded by KI.

 The first you should do upon your arrival in Leiden is to go to the visitor center right across from the central station, where you’ll get your starter Leiden bag with maps, registration card and information booklets.

In the beginning of September two introductory days for international students took place. Divided into faculties we got all information about the university we needed and met the exchange coordinator. We were guided through the city and got to know the other exchange and international students. There was also a huge second hand bike sale on the second day at the sport center. A pub crawl gave a nice insight into the rich bar scene of Leiden.

Buying a bike is also a thing one should fix as early as possible. A bike in Leiden is about the best investing I ever made. Everything can be reached by bike and the bike ways are better than the pedestrian ways at many points. There are also many second hand bike shops in Leiden, if you miss the bike sale at the introductory days (35€-85€ for a used bike). It is recommendable to get working bike lights (cheapest ones you’ll find at Hema!) as there are police controls from time to time. Taking your rainjacket is also a pretty good idea. There were many beautiful days but when it is windy and rainy you will appreciate a rain coat. An umbrella does not help with that wind... Moreover, being in Holland you will not leave your bike at home just because of rain, strong wind, thunderstorm or any other natural disaster.

There are several cards you’ll need. The Leiden University card you will need for the main library. You have to upload a picture online and then they take some days to make the card. I had to collect mine from PLEXUS but I didn’t get information that it was there. Others got theirs by post, so if you are waiting for yours dropping by PLEXUS and asking whether it is there might be a good idea.

For medical part of the university, the LUMC, you need a special batch which is an identification card and gives access to many labs, lecture rooms, passages to avoid the rain, the hospital library... I had some troubles to get this card so as soon as you get the form for it via mail from the Dutch exchange coordinator fill it out and send it right back then it will be faster.

The prices in supermarkets and restaurants are cheaper than in Sweden. As I sublet a student room, I spend around the same amount of money for housing. I did sports at the university sport center which is rather cheap. So, I spend overall less money than in Sweden, but went out for dinner more often.

Very different to Sweden credit cards are rather uncommon. They have a paying system, but you need a Dutch bank account. I paid mostly with cash, for the train ticket machines maestro card is working.

In the online application accommodation from the university can be requested (http://www.studenthousing.leiden.edu/housing-via-the-university/). The rooms are generally rather expensive. For a single room in the city center you can calculate around 500 €. But the buildings are really central and beautiful. Moreover living there guarantees to meet a lot of other international students and many house parties. There are some cheaper options outside the city which are less nice and partly have only shared rooms.

I got my room over the Dutch exchange coordinator and rented the room of a student who went for exchange to KI. A bit outside of the city center in a big student dorm I had a beautiful room and 7 Dutch flat mates. I paid around 300 € for the room. I would definitely recommend a sublet agreement like that. I was completely happy with my living condition and even being outside of the city center I was everywhere in max 15 min by bike. Finding a room in Leiden is not as difficult as in Stockholm, but still not easy. Especially at the beginning of the term many students are searching and some time has to be invested. For subletting stitchingroofes.nl is a good starting point.

The biomedical science courses take place at the LUMC (Leiden University Medical Center). Very similar to the KI campus in Huddinge the LUMC is a big hospital with some lecture halls in the main building. An additional building with only seminar rooms and lecture halls is connected to the main building as is a research building which also has seminar rooms also for students on the ground floor. Especially in the two additional buildings the equipment is rather new.

All courses at the LUMC had a "module book", which contained the course description, exercises and information about the examination. The "module book" is online on blackboard (=pingpong) and is also sold at the bookshop of the LUMC behind Hepato. Additionally, my first course had also recommended course literature which was available at the bookshop.

The courses were hold completely in English on a good level. The relationship to the lectures felt a bit more hierarchical than in Sweden, but it was of course still possible to ask questions at any point etc. In my second, smaller, course we had more discussions than typically at KI, which was very nice.

Both courses were focused on also giving some practical insights, the first course with SPSS exercises, the second with lab work and writing a grant application.

Dutch sounds like a mix of English, German and Swedish. Some standard sentences (“Dank je wel!”) are sufficient for everyday life as most Dutch people speak English very well.

The culture is very close to the Swedish and German culture, so I didn’t had any major culture dependent difficulties.

In our introductory lecture we heard that the Dutch think in boxes when it comes to social relationships and it might be very hard to get from the “university friend”-box to the “free time friend”-box. It is true that most of the friends I met during the exchange were other exchange students, but there were always also Dutch friends who were very open and made the transition to the “free time friend”-box rather quickly. It was especially easy in my second smaller course or in the lab to get more in contact with Dutch students.

ISN

The Intenational Student Network ISN organizes many international student clubs for example the cooking club or the movie club, which are also great places to meet new people. Moreover ISN organizes many events, for example a weekend at the sea, daytrips at the weekends, dinners and parties. The ISN card for 5€ is definitely a good investion!

Trips

Leiden is also a great staring point for self organized trips. The beach at Katwijk is only 6km away from the city center and easily reached by bike. Amsterdam is only a 40min train ride away. Moreover, there are many beautiful towns around you can go to by train as Den Haag, Delft, Gouda, Volendam... Also Rotterdam is definitly worth at least one day trip.

Sports

The sport center offers many great courses from Zumba, Power Yoga and Pilates to Basketball, Frisbee Panic, Fencing and Badminton. The sport center card (44€ for 3 months) allows access to all courses, two gyms and at certain times to a swimming pool. Most  sport courses I participated in were instructed in English.

Moreover, there are many sport clubs you can join. I joined the kayaking club Levitas as a test member for 20€ and participated in a 8 week kayaking beginner course and had additionally the possibility to join extra training for example for kayak polo. We kayaked a bit outside of Leiden between beautiful windmills and sheepruns.

Culture

There are so many museums that a worth visiting, espacially in Amsterdam and Den Haag. There is the possibility to buy a museums card (40€), which allows you to visit most museum in the Netherlands for free for one year. The museum night in Amsterdam in October is also a great possibility to visit many museums, many of them have a special program for the night.

Nightlife

Leiden itself does not have many clubs, there is a place called In Casa or you have to go to Amsterdam or Den Haag. Leiden does have many bars though! Several bars in the city have an international night or happy hour nights where places are packed with international students and it is easy to meet students also from other faculties (on Mondays Odessa, on Wednesdays Einstein…).

I enjoyed my exchange term a lot. Leiden is a beautiful typical Dutch town with canals, small old houses and of course windmills. But apart from being typical Dutch, Leiden is also a typical student city. There is plenty to do and to see in the closer surrounding of Leiden. The courses I took were very good, as was the project I did in the lab.

All in all, I am very happy that I decided to go to Leiden for exchange as I had a great and memorable time!